Just a little something....

Developing my use of ICT

 

 My generation has been brought up with computers but as the years go on technology is changing and we have had to adapt ourselves to the new technology. We are always having to learn to use something new.

Since I have started University I have started to learn a lot more about ICT and have been introduced to things I did not know.

I have been shown:

• How to Blog
• How to use the internet appropriately for research
• How to be a reflective learner
• How to use web 2 apps
• How to create animations
• How to tell a story with pictures
• How to reference using Word

 

 

Not only have these helped me week by week to complete each task given to me but I feel that they will help me in the future while I  am studying at University.

I have found blogging quite a difficult task as I find it is hard to get your message and views across in an appropriate way but with a little practice I think that it will become much easier and who knows by next year I may become a Professional Blogger.

Thanks for reading my blogs!!

Role of ICT within Education

The video above is very interesting and shows the use of ICT within education. There are advantages and disadvantages but if used in the right manner then everyone can benefit. In the video it states that:

'ICT is always developing and the more it develops the more we change'.

This statement is very true as most people today rely on their mobile phones/laptops/tablets etc and most children sit inside on their computers instead of going outside to play.

 

The changes of technology have an impact on:

• Employers- look to hire people with good ICT skills  in order to enhance the technology being used in the place of work.
• Teachers- often struggle to keep students focused because of mobile phones.
• Career- If there is an employee who lives in Australia and needs to attend a meeting with other employees from the Uk then they can hold a meeting online.
• Distraction- students get distracted easily by games and social networking sites.
• Trust- the teacher can not always know exactly what the students are looking at on their computers.
• Expectations- 12 workers each had a specific job to do but now a machine can do all of their jobs at once and only 1 person is needed to run that machine.

Using laptops in School, Good or Bad?

Good:

→ easier for teacher to send students back their work without chasing them

→ Can access the work at home, in office or classroom

→ Organisation will improve as all files can be saved together in one place

→ find answers quick on the internet

→ Can look up meaning of words that are not understood

Bad:

→ information not always true and not retained

→ Copy and paste

→ Time consuming as teachers have to test each website before showing them to students

From the video 'The role of ICT in education' from my previous blog, the teacher explains how she had set up a private chat room for her class. She says it has helped her in many ways as:

→ students can send their work to her and she can send it back without having to chase them around

→ students can comment on each other's work

→ they can ask for help if they are stuck

→ if students do not want to speak in class they can simply write down what they want to say

I  think that if ICT is used correctly within education then students and teachers will benefit from it. I also think that it should not replace handwriting as children still need to learn how to write but with a little help from technology they can also improve ICT skills.

Referencing made easy!

 

 

Since I started University I have found out how important it is to reference and that it must be done to an appropriate standard.

When we were given our assignment I found it difficult to keep track of all of my references and lost many of the names of the books I had used.

One of our lecturers introduced us to referencing on Word. I had never used it before and so I gave it a shot. It took a little getting used to but as I was going along I could type in all of the details from the book/journal/website that I had used and Word would reference it for me.

After I had completed my assignment I clicked on a certain button and Word automatically arranged my references into a Bibliography and put them in alphabetical order so I did not have to.

There was a small problem with some of the references. As I was using the older version of word some of the references were not showing up in the correct 'Havard Referencing Guide' style and so I had to change a few things.

Overall I think that this will help many students who struggle with referencing and will help them in the future to understand.

Below I have put two links:

 

• Referencing using Word
• Havard Reference Guide Video

Voki Continued....

After making my own avatar by using the web2 app Voki, I decided to explore the site a bit more to see what they had to offer.

The Voki service is free but there is another service called Voki classroom.

Voki classroom is free for a limited time but then a subscribtion fee has to be paid.

I think that this service would be very useful for teachers who have several classes as a hierarchy table can be made where the teacher is at the top. Then the classes. Then each student.

The students can personalise their own profiles.

The teacher can assign tasks to each class or student individually.

Students can then easily view and complete their assignments using 'Student view'.

The teacher can review all of the work from a lesson or from a particular student.

An automatic webpage is created once the students have completed the work. This can then be used to showcase the student's work or it can be set to private by using a password.

Overall I think that this web 2 app is very helpful and would be very handy for teachers when it came to keeping track of student's work.



Are web 2 apps educational?

   

PRESS PLAY ABOVE!

There are many web 2 apps being used in education today to help children have fun while learning. I have been exploring VOKI. Voki is a web 2 app where you can create an avatar and then add a voice to it.

Creating an avatar:

• make an animal/monster/anime/3d avatar
• upload a photo of yourself

Adding a voice:

• Choose an accent/language/sound effect
• Record a message

Ok so this sounds like a lot of fun but how can it be used in an educational way you ask?

Most children get bored when the teacher reads aloud and they have to copy it down but by adding a different voice/ sound effect may make a difference.

By using this web 2 app the teacher can put up a 3d image of themselves or an avatar and put their voice to it. They can then record a message and just press play. They can make things more fun by adding sound effects to the voice. The children can get involved and make their own.

I think this would be a brilliant, exciting way for children to learn in a Primary School but I don't think older children would listen to a talking cartoon head.